In the modern Jewish tradition, converts to Judaism are often called Jews by Choice, which indicates that they were not born to Jewish families but chose to become Jews. A few years ago, I listened to a roundtable discussion on conversion to Judaism by Jewish converts. One gentleman participated in the discussion only very reluctantly and after concerted effort by the organizer to...

In the year since Pope Francis's election, I have watched with mounting concern as conservative Catholics have become increasingly agitated over the Pope's simpler papal style, his seeming lack of concern for precision in speaking and writing, the contrast between him and the Pope Emeritus, and his critique of ideologies that they hold dear. In response, I have written a number of blog posts that were intended, in part, to ...

Years ago, I read an interview with Marcus Grodi of the Coming Home Network. I searched through Google in vain for that interview. I will have to give you the highlights to the best of my recollection. If something strikes you as wrong, blame me and not Mr. Grodi.

In the interview, Mr. Grodi spoke of the difficulty of converts in acclimating...

Perhaps you've noticed that we live in a "me first!" culture. We want what we want when we want it exactly the way we want it. The fast-food chain Burger King has trained a generation of Americans to "Have it your way!" That's all well and good when ordering a Whopper, but it is a poor attitude to have in other areas of life.

In the Church the "have it your way" attitude shows up in many areas of parish life. Here are a sampling that I've pulled from common questions we receive at...